Philosophy_Vigorous or Moribund

8/2/2019 Philosophy_Vigorous or Moribund

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Husserl Studies 5:3-39 (1988)Kluwer Academic Publishers

Phenomenology: Vigorous or moribund?

M.M. VAN DE PITTEUniversity of Alberta, Edmonton

F o r t h r e e d e c a d e s n o w J a m e s E d ie h a s c h r o n ic l e d t h e s t a te o fh e a l t h o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y i n A m e r ic a . T h e m o s t r e c e n t o f t h e s er e p o r t s d o c u m e n t s t h e c la im t h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g y is n o w a v ig o r-o u s f o r c e i n A m e r i c a n p h i l o so p h i c a l t h o u g h t . I E d i e c o n s t r u e s" p h e n o m e n o l o g y " s o b r o a d l y t h a t h is a ss e s s m e n t is i n c o n t e s t a b l yc o r r e c t . I f , h o w e v e r , o n e p r e c i z e s a t a l l t h e s e n se t h a t " p h e n o m e -n o l o g y " m u s t b e a r i f i t is t o b e m o r e t h a n a c a t ch - a ll t e r m f o r al o t o f re c e n t C o n t i n e n t a l p h i l o s o p h y , t h e n E d i e 's p o s i t i o n m u s t b eq u a li fi e d . C e r t a i n ly i f o n e w a n t s " p h e n o m e n o l o g y " t o c a t c h m a in -s t r e a m , i .e ., H u sse r li a n p h e n o m e n o l o g y , t h e r e i s l es s r e a so n t o b es a n gu i ne a b o u t i ts p r e s e n t s t a te . F o r p h e n o m e n o l o g y , in t h e f u n -d a m e n t a l s en s e o f t h a t t e r m e s t a bl i sh e d b y H u s s er l, t o b e j u d g e dh e a l t h y , o n e w o u l d s u p p o s e t h a t t h e r e is w i d e s p r e a d a g r e e m e n t o nt h e n a t u r e , i m p o r t a n c e , a n d f e a si b il it y o f t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i s t ' st a s k , a n d f u r t h e r , o n e w o u l d s u p p o s e t h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g y f l o u r -i sh es b e c a u se m a n y p h i l o so p h e r s h a v e m a s t e r e d i ts d i s t in c t i v em e t h o d a n d a re g et t in g o n w i t h i t. O n e w o u l d , i n o t h e r w o r d s ,s u p p o s e t h a t w e i n fa c t ha v e t h a t " r e s o l u t e c o - o p e r a t i o n a m o n g ag e n e r a t i o n o f r e se a r c h w o r k e r s , c o n sc i o u s o f t h e i r g o a l a n d d e d i -ca ted to the main i ssue, ' '2 e t c . , e t c . wh ich H usser l t oo k to be es -s e nt ia l i f p h e n o m e n o l o g y w e r e n o t ju s t a n o t h e r " p r a c t i c a l l y " ir-r e l e v a n t p h i l o so p h i c a l t h e o r y . A g l a n c e a t t h e j o u r n a l s su g g es t stha t t h i s i s no t the case . Al tho ugh the re a r e som e in te res t ingr e su lt s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l w o r k t o b e f o u n d i n E n g li sh- la n g u ag ep u b l i c a t io n s , t h e v a st m a j o r i t y o f t h o s e p u b l i c a t i o n s ar e d e v o t e dt o n o n - p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l w o r k , i .e ., t o w o r k about p h e n o m e n o l o -g y - a b o u t s p e ci fi c p r o b l e m s i n H u s s e rl 's p h i l o s o p h y , a b o u t t h er e l a ti o n b e t w e e n H u s s e r l' s p o s i t io n o n v a r i o u s p h i l o s o p h i c al p r o b -


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4le ms a n d th e p o s i t i o n s o f o th e r p h i lo so p h e r s , a b o u t t h e r e l a t io nb e t w e e n p h e n o m e n o l o g y a n d o t h e r p h i l o s o p h i c a l a p p r o a c h e s , e t c .(This a r t ic le i s a case in po in t . ) Much of th is mate r ia l concernsw h a t h a v e n o w b e c o m e p e r e n n i a l p r o b l e m s i n H u ss e rl sc h o la r sh i p.A n d m u c h is a b o u t , o r w r i t t e n f r o m , a su b s t an t i al l y m o d i f i e d p h e -n o m e n o l o g i ca l s t a n d p o i n t , s u ch as " h e r m e n e u t i c a l " p h e n o m e n o l -o g y , o r f r o m a s t a n d p o i n t d e v e l o p e d o n t h e g r o u n d o f p h e n o m e -n o lo g y b u t i n imic a l to i t, su c h a s d e c o n s t ru c t io n . A ll o f t h e sed e r i v a t i v e s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y , w h e t h e r p u r p o r t e d l y c o n t i n u o u sw i t h i t o r a n t i t h e t ic a l t o i t, w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f s tr u c t u r al i s m ,ma n i f e s t ly b e t r a y Hu sse r l ' s c e n t r a l i n s ig h t s a b o u t c e r t i t u d e a n da d e q u a t e l y g r o u n d e d t h e o r e t i c a l c o n s ci o u sn e s s. H u s se rl t h e n , h o w -e v e r g r a t i f i e d h e mig h t b e a b o u t t h e g e n e ra t io n s o f r e se a rc h w o r -kers a t v a r ious H usser l A rch ives se l flessly unrave l l ing h is Gabe ls -b e r g e r s h o r t h a n d , m a k i n g t y p e s c r ip t s , p u b li s h in g v o l u m e s f r o m r e -l a te d b it s o f m a n u s c r i p t m a t e r ia l s , a n d c o m m e n t a r i e s o n t h e m ,w o u ld b e u n l ik e ly t o a g ree w i th E d ie ' s o p t imis t i c d ia g n o s is - l i tt l eo r n o n e o f th i s is p h i lo so p h y o f t h e d i s t in c t iv e t y p e w h i c h h e a d -v o c a t e d .

I sh a l l h e re in d ic a t e so me o f t h e so u rc e s o f ma la i s e a b o u t p h e -n o m e n o l o g y , s o m e o f t h e c o n s i d e r a t io n s t h a t h a v e l e d t o t h e c on -s id e ra b le p re p o n d e r a n c e o f Hu sse r l s c h o la r s , c o m m i t t e d to s t a n -d a r d f o r m s o f p h i l o s o p h i ca l e x eg e si s, o v e r " g e n u i n e " p h e n o m e -n o lo g is t s . T h e se c o n s id e ra t io n s n a tu ra l ly su g g es t , b u t d o n o t sh o w ,t h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g y , h o w e v e r f a sh i o n a b le , is fa r w i d e o f b e i ng t h ea p o d ic t i c s c i e nc e H u sser l m e a n t i t t o b e . I t is h o p e d th a t t h i s ne g a -t ive c r i t ic i sm, in essence me re l y a cursor y overv iew of the v iciss i-t u d e s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y , w il l su gg es t c o n c r e t e s te p s w e m i g h tt a k e t o w a r d s e t tl in g s o m e o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y ' s d i s p u t e d q u e s ti o n s .T h e h e s i t a n t c o n c lu s io n r e a c h e d (p re d ic t a b ly ) , i s t h a t t h e s i t u a -t io n is a s i t i s b e c a u se m o s t o f u s n o w see th a t t h e re i s m u c h o fv a lu e i n H u s s er l' s p h e n o m e n o l o g y , b u t o n l y i n t h e s a m e se n se t h a tt h e r e is m u c h o f v al u e in t h e w o r k o f a n y p h i l o s o p h ic a l g i an t u p o nw h o m w e c o l l e c t iv e ly sh a rp e n o u r p h i lo so p h ic a l c l aw s , a n d w h ooccas iona l ly enr ich es an ind iv idua l ph i losoph ica l l ife . I sha ll fo l -lo w E d ie b y s l a n t in g my r e ma rk s t o w a rd th e E n g l i sh - s l~ e a k in gp h i lo s o ph i ca l c o m m u n i t y .


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1. Disagreements, and their bases, about the nature and truth c o n -d i t i o n s of phenom enological propositions

I n o r d e r t o f o c u s s o m e w h a t t h e v e r y la rg e i ss u e o f w h a t p h e n o m e -n o l o g y w a s i n t e n d e d t o b e a n d w h e t h e r i t w o r k s , 3 le t u s p o s e as l ig h t ly n a r r o w e r q u e s t i o n w h i c h w i l l s e rv e t h e s a m e e n d : w h a t i s ap h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n a n d h o w is it v a l id a t ed ? W e c a ne a s il y s ee t h a t t h e a n sw e r i s f a r f r o m t r a n sp a r e n t .

F i rs t , w h a t is a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n a b o u t ? T h e r e is ar a n g e o f m o r e o r l e s s l e g i t i m a t e a n sw e r s t o t h i s q u e s t i o n : i t i sa b o u t a ) i n t e n t i o n a l i t y ( a n i n t e n t i o n a l a c t ) , b ) p u r e c o n sc i o u sn e s s( t r a n sc e n d e n t a l su b j e c t i v i t y , t h e o r e t i c a l c o n sc i o u sn e s s ) , c ) e s se n c e s( c a t e g o r i e s o f p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s ) , d ) m e a n i n g s ( c o n c e p t s , s e n se s ),e ) idea l en t i t i e s (un i t i e s ) , f ) t h ings them se lve s ( f ac t s ) , g ) l ived ex-p e r i e n c e, h ) . . . . W h i c h a n sw e r o n e c h o o s e s t o e m p h a s i z e c o l o u r so n e ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y a n d l im i ts i n s u b t le w a y si ts a p p l i c a b i l i t y . T h e d i f f e r e n t n u a n c e s o f t h e v a r i o u s c h a r a c t e r iz a -t io n s o f t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i s t ' s f o c u s p er m i t p h e n o m e n o l o g y t o b ep r e ss e d i n t o t h e s e rv ic e o f o n t o l o g y , e p i s t e m o l o g y , p s y c h o l o g y( s ic ) , cogn i t ive sc ience ( s ic? ) , se m a n t i c s , e t c . A s a c o n s e q u e n c eH u s s er l h as b e e n m a d e t h e b e d f e l l o w o f e v e r y o n e f r o m D e s c a r te s ,K a n t a n d H u m e t o J o h n S e ar le a n d J e r ry F o d o r . 4

P r ec is in g w h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s a re a b o u t w il ld e t e r m i n e ( la rg e ly b u t n o t e n t i re l y ) h o w t h e y a re t o b e d e s c ri b e d .Bu t h e r e t o o t h e r e is c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s a g r e e m e n t . H u sse r l r e g a r d e dt h e m a s s y n t h e t i c a pr ior i . L e s z e k K o l a k o w s k i a g r e e s b u t d e n i e st h a t t h e r e a re a n y . s R i c h a r d S c h m i t t a lso a g re e s , b u t su sp e c t st h a t a n i n c o m p l e t e t r u t h t h e o r y i n a d v e r t e n t l y a d m i t s s o m e s y n -t h e t i c a p o s t e r i o r i s . 6 Mo r i t z S c h l i c k a s w e l l a s m o s t o t h e r p h i l o so -p h e r s i n t h e e m p i r i c i s t t r a d i t i o n s e e t h e m a s a n a l y t i c . 7 Ro b e r tS o k o l o w sk i , w h o u n l i k e t h e e m p i r i c i s ts i s v e r y m u c h i n t u n e w i t hthe Husser l i an ~ lan , r egards the m as t au to log ie s . 8

O f c o u r se t o s e t t le t h e i s su e o f t h e p r o p e r c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n o fp h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s w o u l d r e q u i r e n o t o n l y k n o w i n gw h a t t h e y a re a b o u t , b u t a l so k n o w i n g h o w t h e y a re v a l id a t ed .( W e sh o u l d a l so o f c o u r se h a v e t o a g re e o n t h e m e a n i n g o f t e r m su s e d to d e s c ri b e p r o p o s i t i o n s . ) B u t p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t r u t h t h e o r yt o o i s a v e x e d q u e s t i o n . C r i t i c s l i k e S c h l i c k w h o h a v e n o d o u b t sa b o u t t h e n a t u r e a n d n u m b e r o f t r u t h c r i te ri a r e ga r d p h e n o m e n o l -


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o g i c al p r o p o s i t i o n s , l ik e p h i l o so p h i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s , g e n e r a l l y , a sb e i n g t r u e ex vi terminorurn. O t h e r s , w h o se a r c h f o r H u sse r l ' s o w nt r u t h t h e o r y b e f o r e d e c i d i n g , a r e d i v i d ed a b o u t w h a t t h e y s ee i nh is w o r k . T h e m a i n d i v is i o n is a s i m p le o n e - b e t w e e n t h o se w h osee one t ru th c r i t e r ion and tho se w ho d i sce rn a se t o f c r i te r i a ,t h o s e w h o s e e v a l id a t io n i n te r m s o f s o m e o n e ( v er y p r o b l e m a t i c )c o n c e p t l ik e e v i d e n c e a n d i ts c o g n a t e s ( a p o d i c t i c i t y , i n si g h t, f u l-f il le d m e a n i n g i n t e n t i o n , e t c . ) a n d t h o se w h o u n d e r s t a n d i t a s am o r e o r l e s s c o m p l i c a t e d process, a ll t h e s t e p s o f w h i c h m a y ( P ie -t e r sm a 9 ) o r m a y n o t ( S c h m i t t 1 ) h a v e b e e n i d e n t i f i e d .

The re a r e m an y f ac to r s inc lud ing ca re less scho la r sh ip 1~ wh ichm i g h t a c c o u n t f o r th e se d iv e rse a n d so m e t i m e s c o n t r a d i c t o r yr e a d in g s o f H u sse r l ' s p h e n o m e n o l o g y , b u t i t is a l so p o s s i b l e t h a tt h e so u r c e o f t h e d i f f i c u l t y l ie s i n t h e w o r k . I t m a y b e t h a t H u sse r ls i m p l y f a il e d in h is p r o j e c t , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e m o s t l o f t y c o n c e p -t i o n o f t h a t p r o j e c t - a s t r a n sc e n d e n t a l p h i l o so p h y - o r i t m a y b et h a t h is e x c e e d i n g l y d e n se p r e s e n t a t i o n o f h is id e a s h a s p r e v e n t e dm a n y o f u s f r o m r e c o g n i zi n g h i s su c c e ss . T h e l i ke l y so u rc e s o ft r o u b l e a r e t h e m o s t g e n e r a l d i s t i n c t i o n s w h i c h u n d e r l i e p h e n o m e -n o l o g y . W e sha ll n o t e t h e m , a n d t h e n s e e h o w t h e y i n f e c t t h e is -s u e o f t h e n a t u re o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t r u t h t h e o r y .

T h e l ar ge d i s t i n c t i o n s w h i c h w e m u s t k e e p i n v ie w i f w e w o u l dc o r r e c t l y d e t e r m i n e i f a n d h o w p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n sd i f f e r f r o m o t h e r so r t s o f p r o p o s i t i o n s a re t h e d i s t in c t i o n s b e -t w e e n t h e n a t u r al a n d th e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l a t t i tu d e s , b e t w e e ne i d e t i c a n d t r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y , a n d b e t w e e n d e sc ri p t iv e a n dg e n e t ic p h e n o m e n o l o g y . W e c an a p p re c i a t e t h e p r o b l e m o f c o r-r e c t l y u n d e r s t a n d i n g p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t r u t h t h e o r y w h e n w e r e-m e m b e r t h a t i t is n o t e n o u g h m e r e l y to u n d e r s t a n d h o w p ro p o s i -t i o n s a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l a t t i t u d e d i ff e r f r o mt h o se a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e n a t u r a l a t t i t u d e , a n d t o r e c o g n i z e t h a tt h e t r u t h c r it e ri a a p p r o p r i a t e t o o r d i n a r y a n d sc i e n t if i c t h i n k i n go n t h e o n e h a n d , a n d t o p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t h in k i n g o n t h e o t h e rm u s t d i f f e r in r e l a t i o n t o t h e ra d i c a l d i f f e r e n c e o f k i n d b e t w e e nt h e se c l a sse s o f p r o p o s i t i o n s . O n e m u s t a l so w o r r y a b o u t p o s s i b l ed i f f e r e n c e s within p h e n o m e n o l o g y . T h a t i s, a b o u t w h e t h e r t ra n -s c e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y y i e ld s p r o p o s i t i o n s w h i c h a r e i m p o r t a n t l yd i f f e r e n t f r o m t h o s e y i e l d e d b y ( m e r e ) ei d e ti c e n q u i r y , a b o u tw h e t h e r t h e p r o p o s i ti o n s o f s t at ic p h e n o m e n o l o g y , w h i c h co n -


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7t a in n o r e f e re n c e t o t h e s u b j ec t iv e c o n d i t i o n s o f c o n c e p t a n dj u d g m e n t ( p r o p o s i t i o n ) f o r m a t i o n d i f fe r f r o m t h o s e o f g e n e t icp h e n o m e n o l o g y w h i c h d o . T h e c o n s i d e r a b le d i f fe r e n c e s i n u n d e r -s t an d i ng H u s s e rl m u s t b e a t t r i b u t a b l e t o r ea l o r a p p a r e n t p r o b l e m sf o l l o w i n g f r o m t h e s e m o s t e l e m e n t a r y d i s t i n c t i o n s .

1 .1 F i r s t p r o b l e m a t i c d i s t i n c ti o n : N a t u r a l / p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a la t t i t u d e

A m a j o r a n d v e r y o l d w o r r y is t h a t t h e d is t i n c t io n b e t w e e n th ep h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l a n d t h e n a t u r a l a t t i t u d e i s e i t h e r n o t a s c l e anas i t sho u ld be i f i t i s t o guara n tee the a priori c h a r a c t e r o f p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s , o r e l s e it i s so c l ea n t h a t i t se v e rsa l t o g e t h e r t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h o s e p r o p o s i t i o n s a n d w h a t t h e ya r e m e a n t t o c l a r if y . T o se e t h is w e sha ll su p p o s e ( a l t h o u g h w em a y b e f o o l i sh i n d o i n g so) t h a t t h e c o n c e p t o f t h e n a t u r a l a t t i -t u d e i s r e l a t iv e l y u n c o n t r o v e r s i a l . I t c o v e r s t h e m e t a p h y s i c a l l yf r e i g h t e d p e r sp e c t i v e o f c o m m o n se n se a n d sc i e n t i f ic t h i n k i n g . 12B u t w h e n w e a t t e m p t t o c h ar a c te r i ze i ts o p p o s i t e , t h e p h e n o m e -n o l o gi c a l a t t i t u d e , w e n o t e t w o f e a t u r e s w h i c h d o n o t o b v i o u s l yf it w e l l t o g e t h e r . O n e h a s t o d o w i t h t h e p u r p o s e f o r w h i c h t h ea t t i t u d e is a d o p t e d , t h e o t h e r h a s t o d o w i t h t h e n a t u r e o f t h ek n o w l e d g e t h a t i t g e ne r a te s . T h e m o s t b a s i c p u r p o s e o f t h e p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l a t t i t u d e , o n e m i g h t l e g i ti m a t e l y c l ai m , i s t o a ll o wu s to u n d e r s t a n d t h e n a t u r a l a t t i t u d e . I n t h e I n v e s t i g a t i o n s t h ee m p h a s i s is o n sp e c i f i c a t i o n s o f n a t u r a l t h i n k i n g , p r i m a r i l y o nl og ic a l a nd m a t h e m a t i c a l t h i nk i n g , b u t t h e r o o t p r o b l e m t h e r e ist h e r o o t p r o b l e m o f e p i s t e m o l o g y it s el f: " t h e r e l a ti o n sh i p . ..b e t w e e n t h e s u b j e c t i v it y o f k n o w i n g a n d t h e o b j e c t i v i t y o f t h ec o n t e n t k n o w n . ''13 I n Ideas , t h e e m p h a s i s is o n t h e m o s t f u n d a -m e n t a l a s s u m p t i o n s u n d e rl y in g c o m m o n s en se . P h e n o m e n o l o g yhas fo r " i t s so le t a sk and se rv ice ... t o c l a r i fy the m ean ing o f th i sw o r l d [ t h e r e a l w o r l d , t h e w o r l d o f n a t u r e ] , t h e p r e c i s e s e n se i nw h i c h e v e r y o n e a c c e p t s i t, a n d w i t h u n d e n i a b l e r ig h t , as r e a ll ye x i st i ng . ''14 E v e n w h e n H u sse r l d o e s n o t s e e m p r i m a r i l y c o n c e r n e dw i t h t h e n a t u r a l a t t i t u d e , i .e ., w h e n h e e x p r e s se s h i m se l f a s b e i n ge n g a g e d i n " 't he a c q u i s i ti o n o f a n e w re g io n o f b e i n g n e v e r b e f o red e l i m i t e d in i ts o w n p e c u l i a r i t y , ''a s t h e r e g i o n o f p u r e o r t r a n -


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scendental consciousness, it is clear that it is only on the basis ofthinking about "the ego, the consciousness, and the mental pro-cesses which are given to us in the natural attitude '16 that one canlearn anything at all about the transcendental subject. "What weabsolutely need," he says, "is a certain universal insight into theessence of any consciousness whatever and also, quite particularly,of consciousness insofar as it is, in itself, by its essence consciousof 'natural' activity. '17

This practical and theoretical pr imacy of the natural attitude isdoes not sit easily with Husserl's avowed rejection of all standardempirical avenues toward his ends. F or instance he says in the In-vestigations where he is so exercized with psychologism that scien-tific research and practical epistemology offer nothing to illumi-nate his concern, which is pure epistem ology) 9 Although hewould oblige us to "clearly grasp what the ideal is, both intrin-sically and in its relation to the real, how it can be immanent init and so Come to knowledge, '2 he so strongly stresses the dis-connection, indeed "the unbridgeable gap between the ideal andthe real, '21 he is so clear on the cont inge nt na ture of the generallaws of science and the necessary nature of the ideal laws dis-covered by phe nom eno logy t hat (as the existentialists were fondof noting) one becomes hard pressed to see how his ideal lawswill relate to the here and now facts of experience at all. Phe-nomenol ogy and its descriptively clarified idealities is empt y, justanot her theoretica l game unless it illuminates the real.

Of course Husserl has a great deal to say to all t h i s . 2 2 - Butsometimes even his most devoted and gifted followers have fearedthat the relation betwe en the real and th e ideal has been estab-fished in a self-destructive way. Either the enterprise of relatingthe real and the ideal fails entir ely or just a little bit of the fac tualis imported into the essential in order to establish a describableconnection between the real and the ideal. The problem then isthat whatever signifies the relevance o f phe nom eno log y to ourexperience at the same time compromises the claim to apodicticityfor phenomenological propositions. According to one commenta-tor, the ideal laws of phe nom eno log y are tainted by psychologismas a result of the immediacy and facticity of the evidence whichgrounds them . 23 For anot her, the role o f typica lities in the geneticproduction of an essence means that the essence is in some waydepen dent upon the empirical basis of the ty pe concept . 24 A third


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c o m m e n t a t o r p a i n t s t h e w o r s t s c e n a r i o , c l a i m i n g t h a t i n d u c t i o ni s n o t m e r e l y c o m p a t i b l e w i t h e i d e t i c r e d u c t i o n b u t t h e e i d e t i cr ed uc t ion i s i t se l f a spec ies o f indu c t io n . 2s I f he i s r igh t , ap od ic -t i c i ty g o e s t o t a ll y b y t h e b o a r d a n d p h e n o m e n o l o g y m i g h t as w e l lb e s c r a p p e d .

W h e t h e r o r n o t o n e is c o n v i n c e d b y a r g u m e n t s f o r t h e lo g ic a ld i s ju n c t iv e n e s s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l r e d u c t i o n a n d i n d u c t i o n , 26m a i n s t r e a m p h e n o m e n o l o g i s t s w il l r e m a i n o n t h e d e f e ns i v e u n t ila l l c h a l l e n g e s t o t h e c l a i m f o r a p o d i c t i c i t y a r e m e t , i n c l u d i n g t h echa l l enge to the very in t e l l ig ib i l i t y o f idea l l aws desc r ib ing thes t r u c t u r e s o f i n t e n t i o n a l a c t f o r m s a n d o f t h e i r s e m a n t i c a n don to log ic a l co r r e l a t es . 27 Suppo s ing the cha l l enges to such veryb a s i c t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c i p le s a r e su c c e s s f u l l y m e t o n c e a n d f o r al l,t h e r e w i ll s ti ll r e m a i n t h e d i f f i c u l t t a sk o f c o n v i n c i n g e v e r y o n eo f t h e p r a c t i c a l r e l e v a n c e o f t h e t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c ip l e .

1.2 Second problematic distinction: eMetic~transcendental en-quiryA se c o n d , v e r y g e n e ra l d i s t i n c t i o n t h a t H u sse r l m a k e s - t h e di s-t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n e i d et i c a n d t r a n s c e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y - h a s g e ne r -a t e d c o n t r o v e r s y s i n c e t h e m o m e n t i t w a s a n n o u n c e d .

W e s h o u l d n o t e a t t h e o u t s e t t h a t H u s s e rl s t a c k s t h e d e c k b yc l ai m i ng t h a t i t is a l m o s t i m p o ss i b l e f o r t h e n o n - p h e n o m e n o l o g i s tt o g ra s p th e n a t u r e o f t r a n s c e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y . O n e h a s to h a v ea c t u a l ly m a s t e r e d t h e " u n n a t u r a l " t h o u g h t f o r m s p r o p e r t op h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t h i n k i n g , 28 o n e m u s t h a v e o v e r c o m e t h e w e l l-n ig h i n e r a d i c ab l e t e n d e n c y t o s lip o u t o f a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a lt h o u g h t s t a n c e i n t o o n e t h a t is s t r a i g h t - f o r w a r d l y o b j e c t i v e , 29e t c . b e f o r e o n e c a n h o p e t o u n d e r s t a n d a n y t h i n g a t a ll a b o u t t h em e t h o d . B u t e v e n t h e u n c o n v e r t e d m a y n o t i c e t h a t t h e d i st i n c ti o ni s no t a lwa ys c l ea r ly d rawn. Th i s is , i n pa r t , b eca use the re i s ao v e r la p b e t w e e n t h e t w o e l e m e n t s . E i d e t i c e n q u i r y i s t h e c h i e fo r n a m e n t o f t ra n s c e n d e n t a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s an d t h u s o n e c a n s u p -p o s e , g iv e n an a p p r o p r i a t e c o n s t r u a l o f " t r a n s c e n d e n t a l , " t h a t iti s o r c a n b e a f e a t u r e o f t r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y , T h e c o n v e r se isn o t t h e c a se - t h e r e c a n b e a ll so r t s o f e i d e t ic i n v e s t ig a t i o n s u n d e r -t a k e n f r o m t h e n a t u r a l s t a n d p o i n t , i n v e st ig a t io n s w h i c h b y t h a t


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10token do not concern transcendental categories.

A second source of confusion here is obviously that both "eide-tic" and "tran scend ental" bear more than one interpretation."Eid eti c," which is used to indicate the phenom enologis t's con-cern with kinds is problematic because, as we saw when we askedwhat phenomenological propositions are about , there is confu-sion or disagreement about the nature of the relevant kinds. Onegets different regions, ontological, cosmological,3 epistemologi-cal, semantical, over which phenomenology ranges, according towhether the eidei are thought of as possible objects, universals,meanings, etc. But we might, in principle, be able to come toagreement about the kind (or correlated kinds) at issue in eideticenquiry.

"Trans cenden tal" is a more fractious te rm ? 1 Of the manysenses it might bear, there are several that legitim ately relate tophenomenology, some more consistent than others with theterm's Kantian provenance. One sense of "tra nsc end ent al" indi-cates the phenomenologist 's confi nement to the question of the"pure forms of th ou gh t, " i.e., to t he study of intenti onal acts. 32A closely related sense has to do with the fact that from Ideason, the principal datum of phenomenological investigation is"pure" consciousness or transcendental subjectivity. Anothersense o f "trans cende ntal" has to do with phenomenolo gy's natureas a philosophy of possibility, especially of the possibility of ex-perience (theoretical consciousness, knowledge, science . . . . )rather tha n as a philos ophy directly concerned with ac tuality. 33Yet ano the r indicat es the int erest in collapsing the logical, episte-mological and ontological dimensions into a single a priori. Thereare o f course still others: "tr ans cen den tal " means "radically criti-cal ," etc? 4

The ambiguity of these terms has played a major role in theperennial debate about the continuity of Husserl's thought. Ifone can sensibly worry about whether there were many Husserls,ma ny different things lumped under the same rubric - the "psy-chologistic" Husserl of the Phi losophy o f Ar i t hme t i c , the "analyt-ic" Husserl of the Investigations, the "transcendenta l idealist"of the Ideas, the "hermeneuticist" of the Formal and Transcen-dental Logic, Crisis, and Exper ience and Judgment , the "existen-talist" of Crisis (again), etc., it is obviously because one is not


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11quite clear about the devices and goals and their interconnections,of eidetic and transcenden tal investigation.Husserl's status in the world of Anglo-American philosophy,when he has had any, has usually been a funct ion of the elevationof the eidetic mode of inquiry over the transcendental, and theassimilation o f his form o f eidetic enquiry to a form more familiarto us. This was crudely done by the positivists and their narrowly"analytic" successors. They dismissed the transcendental dimen-sion altogether and made easy sense of eidetic reduction by mak-ing it conceptual analysis 3s of precisely their sort. Ryle toleratedHusserl just because he gave anot her Germanic version of what hadalready been done by Frege, Meinong, Russell, Moore and CookWilson. 36 Nakhnikian applauded him just because of his exper tlydone conceptual analysis, despite what he regarded as the sillytheory Husserl offered to subtend it. 37

Contemporary "Anglo" philosophers are much more insightfulinto the appropriateness of Husserl's method to his intent, an in-tent which goes considerably beyond yeomanlike conceptualanalysis. If we consider particularly one of the most interestingand controversial perspectives on phen omeno logy - that of theso-called West Coast School inspired by F~bllesdal's construal ofHusserl's idea of noema along the lines of Frege's notion of sense- we get a proper appreciation of the similarities between thefounda tions of Anglo-American and phenomenological philosophyrespectively, and a very clear awareness that Husserl speaks verywell indeed to the problems of intentionality, meaning, approp-riate models of mind, possible worlds theory, the viability of con-ceptual frameworks, and a numb er o f other issues at the centre ofcon tempor ary Anglo-American philosophical thought. He is quitelegitimately put to use by non-phenomenologists in non-phe-nomenological causes. This is on the whole done self-consciouslyand fairly. These philosophers realize full well that there are alter-native interp retations of Husserl which have a sound textual foun-dation. But those alternative interpretations do not serve theirends, nor, in terms of their ends, (or simpliciter, some would say)do they yield the most coherent Husserl. 38 These ends are still inlarge measure the ends appropriate to philosophy in the empiri-cist tradition, a tradition in some respects deeply at odds withHusserl's intent. So, like their empiricist progenitors, these corn-


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12m e n t a t o r s a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n H u sse r l' s r e p o r t s , i n t h e f r u i t s o f h ise f f o r t s a t e i d e t i c d e sc r i p t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n d o i n g w h a t H u sse r lh o p e d t h e y w o u l d d o - m a k i n g n e w tr a c k s i n t o th e v e r d a n t an dv ir gi n r e al m o f t r a n s c e n d e n t a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s ? 9

B u t e v e n a m o n g t h o s e w h o t h i n k o f t h e m s e l v e s a s a w a r e o f a n dd e d i c a t e d t o H u s s e r l ' s o w n d e e p e s t p h i l o s o p h i c a l c o m m i t m e n t st h e r e h a s b e e n c o n t i n u o u s d i s a g r e e m e n t a s a c o n s e q u e n c e o f t h ev a r io u s w a y s i n w h i c h o n e m i g h t c o n c e iv e o f t h e f r a m e w o r k o rf r a m e w o r k s t h a t s u p p o r t t h e d i s ti n c t io n b e t w e e n e i d et i c a n dt r a n s c e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y . S o m e c o m m e n t a t o r s s e e d i f f e r e n t f ra m e -w o r k s , d i f f e r e n t l ev e ls o f d i s c o u r se i f y o u w i l l, a n d d i f f e r e n t p u r -p o se s b e h i n d e i d e t i c a n d t r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y r e sp e c t i v e l y . A sw e h a v e s e e n , so m e E n g l ish - sp ea k i n g c o m m e n t a t o r s a re p r o n e t ot a k i n g e i d e t i c e n q u i r y t o b e a sp e c i es o f la n g u a ge o r m e a n i n ga n a l y si s w h i l e t a k i n g t r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y t o b e q u i t e d i f f e r e n t( a n d p e r h a p s i m p o ss i b l e ) , i .e ., a n i n q u i r y i n t o t h e c o n d i t i o n s f o rt h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f e x p e r i e n c e 4 ( w h i c h c a n b e c a sh e d o u t i n l o gi c al ,o n t o l o g i c a l o r e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l t e r m s , o r i n t e r m s o f a u n i f i e d apriori). O t h e r s , w i t h t h e s a m e n o t i o n o f e i d e ti c e n q u i r y , t a k et r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y t o b e a su b - sp ec i e s o f i t - i . e . , e i d e t i ce n q u i r y i n t o s p e c if ic c o n c e p t s , p a r t ic u l a r ly c o n c e p t s o f i n t e n t io n a lacts .

L e ss a n a ly t i ca l l y i n c li n ed c o m m e n t a t o r s , s u c h a s t h o s e w h o s e et h e s t r o n g K a n t i a n s t r e a k i n H u sse rl , m i g h t a l so s ee e i d e t i c a n dt r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y a s b e i n g o f a p i e c e - b u t i n t h a t c a se a sr e l a t e d sp e c ie s o f e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t io n . ( O r , i f t h e y a r ek e e n l y a w a r e o f t h e F a u s t i a n d i m e n s i o n o f t h e K a n t i a n a n d H u s -se rl ia n p r o j e c t s , t h e y m i g h t s e e t h e m a s b e i n g a l i ke i n b e i n g d o u b l e -e d g e d : f o r m s o f o n t o - e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l a n a l ys is .)

A n o t h e r p e r m u t a t i o n , t h e c o nv e rs e o f o n e al re a d y m e n t i o n e d ,h a d e i d e t ic p h e n o m e n o l o g y f r e ig h t e d w i t h u n f o r t u n a t e o n t o l o g i-c a l i m p o r t , a n d f a v o u r s a transcendental p h e n o m e n o l o g y , a n -c h o r e d i n t h e p r o j e c t o f m e a n i n g c l a ri f ic a t io n . 4x D o u b t l e s s o t h e rp e r m u t a t i o n s a r e p o s s i b l e as w e l l.

T h e m o r a l o f a ll t h i s i s t h a t w e c a n n o t b e g i n t o g e t s t r ai g h ta b o u t t h e n a t u r e a n d t r u t h c ri te r ia o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o -s i t io n s u n t i l w e a r e c l e a r a b o u t a n d i n a g r e e m e n t o n , t h e p r e c i s en a t u r e o f t h e e i d e t ic a nd t r a n s c e n d e n t a l p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l m o d e so f e n q u i r y . M u c h o f t h e c o n f u s i o n o f t h e m o m e n t r e s u l ts fr o m t h e


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13r e c e n t a n d w e h o p e t e m p o r a r y f al l f r o m g r a ce o f e p i s t e m o l o g y .P h e n o m e n o l o g y is n o t w e l l s er ve d b y t u r ni n g a b l in d e y e t o t h ef a c t t h a t e p i s t e m o l o g y is " t h e f ir s t a n d p r i n c i p l e p a r t o f p h e -n o m e n o l o g y a s a w h o l e . ''42 T o i n s is t t h a t w e r e m e m b e r t h a te i d e t i c a n d t r a n sc e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y a re b o t h in t h e s e rv i ce o fe p i s t e m o l o g y , w h a t e v e r o t h e r u se s t h e y s e r ve a s w e l l, is n o t t od e n y t h e l e g it i m a c y o f us in g t h e m b o t h i n o t h e r w a y s . - N o r isi t t o g l o s s t h e f a c t t h a t i t is so m e t i m e s v e r y e a sy t o m i s s t h e ep is -t e m o l o g i c a l i m p o r t o f e i d e t i c a n a l y s is p a r t i c u l a r l y , a s w e sh al l s e ei n t h e s e q u e l , w h e n i t is d i r e c t e d a t t h e n o e m a t i c s i d e o f t h e i n -t e n t i o n a l c o m p l e x . Bu t i t i s t o i n si s t t h a t w e r e sp e c t H u sse r l ' sb a s i c i n t e n t i o n s a n d a t l e as t b e g i n b y c l a s s if y i ng p h e n o m e n o l o g i -c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s ( a s t o b e u n d e r s t o o d o n a n e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l ,o n t o l o g i c a l , s e m a n t i c o r o t h e r l ev e l) in t e r m s o f H u sse r l ' s p h i l o -s o p h i c a l p r e d i l e c t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n o u r o w n .

T h e v a r i e ty o f p r o p o s i t i o n s , o n c e w e st a rt a t t e n d i n g c a r e f u l l y ,w i ll b e s e e n t o b e c o n s i d e r a b l e . T h e r e w i ll b e l e g i t im a t e c a n d i -d a t e s f o r p a r a d i g m a t i c p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s w h i c hp r e s e n t l aw s o f l og ic , i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n c a t eg o r ie s o ff o r m a l l o g ic a n d f o r m a l o n t o l o g y , r o o t c o n c e p t s o f m a t e r ia l o n -t o l o g i e s , i n t e n t i o n a l a c t s t r u c t u r e s a n d t h e s t r u c t u r e s o f ( p o s s i b l e )c o r r e l a t e o b j e c t s , e t c . , e t c . S o m e w i ll b e , a n d w i ll i n d e e d se e monly t o b e a b o u t t h i n g s , o r m e a n i n g s , o r id e a s , o r l a n gu a g e , o rso m e t h i n g e l s e . S o m e w i l l l o o k t o b e a n a l y t i c , a n d o t h e r s t o b esy n t h e t i c . W e sha ll h a v e t o t r y h a r d e r t o d i s c e rn w h a t i t is t h a tm a k e s t h e m a l l " p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l " d e s p i t e s u c h s t r i k i n g s u r f a c ed i ss imi la r it i e s. As i t i s, we t en d to d i smiss som e, such as thos eg iv in g p u r e l y f o r m a l n o t i o n s , a s m e r e l y p r o t o - p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l .O t h e r s , su c h a s t h o se g iv in g t h e s t r u c t u r e o f , s ay , a n o e m a t i c c o r e ,w e t a k e t o b e s h o r t e n e d v e r s i o n s , w i t h s o m e n o e t i c r e f e r e n c e u n -d e r s t o o d , o f l o n g e r p r o p o s i t i o n s . W e p r e s u m e t h e m t o b e i m p o r -t a n t l y d i f f e r e n t t h a n t h e y a t fi r st a p p e a r t o b e . W e h a v e t o m a k ei t c l ea r t h a t su c h m o v e s a re n e c e s sa r y a n d l e g i t im a t e . I f w e c a n n o t ,t h e r a t h e r u n p a l a t a b l e a l t e rn a t i v e s i n c l u d e r e c o g n i z in g th a t t h e r ea re a f t e r a ll r a d ic a ll y d i f f e re n t t y p e s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o -s it io n s w i t h q u i t e d is t in c t t r u t h c r i te ri a, t h a t " p h e n o m e n o l o g y "t h e r e f o r e is d a n g e r o u s l y s l i p p e r y , c o v e r i n g in f a c t a t l e as t t w oq u i t e d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s .


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141.3 Third problematic distinction." Static/genetic phenomenologyL e t u s m u d d y t h e w a t e r s f u r t h e r b y c o n s i d e ri n g th e t h i rd o f o u re l e m e n t a r y d i st i n c ti o n s - t h e s ta t i c /g e n e t i c p h e n o m e n o l o g y di s-t i n c t io n . ( T h e e i d e t i c / t r a n s c e n d e n t a l e n q u i r y d is t i n c ti o n a d u m -bra tes i t . 43 ) In th e Cartesian Meditations H u sse r l c h a r a c t e r i z e dh is ea r li e r " s t a t i c " o r " s t r u c t u r a l " p h e n o m e n o l o g y a n d i ts c h a ra c -t e r is t i c m e t h o d o f e i d e t i c a n a l y s is a s b e i n g a k i n t o n a t u r a l h i s t o r y

-t h e s t u d y o f a f i x e d a n d d e t e r m i n a t e o b j e c t a nd t h e h ie r a r c h ic a l

c l a s s if i c a ti o n o f t h e d e t e r m i n a t e t y p e s t h e r e b y d i s c lo se d . 44 A ne v e n n a r r o w e r c o n c e p t i o n o f it ha s b e e n m e n t i o n e d a l r ea d y -i t i s a sp e c i e s o f c o n c e p t u a l a n a ly s i s, t h e r e su l t s o f w h i c h c a n b ecas t a s de f in i t ions . Th i s i s a v iew which i s in f ac t cau t ious ly sanc-t ion ed by Husser l . 4s Cr i t i c s saw th i s ve ry fo rm al and r igorouss o r t o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y a s t h r e a t e n in g t o p u s h H u s s e rl 's e n t e rp r i sef a r w i d e o f i ts m a r k - i .e ., a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f c o n sc i o u sn e s sa n d i t s w o r l d e x p e r i e n c e . H u sse r l r e sp o n d e d t o t h e se c r i ti c s b yd i sa s soc i a t in g h i m se l f f r o m t h e " l o g i c i sm " a t t r i b u t e d t o h is p r o -g r a m m e . A s hi s i d e a s c o n t i n u e d t o d e e p e n h e s a w c le a r ly t h e l im -i ts , w h i l e c o n t i n u i n g t o b e su r e t o s ee t h e a d v a n t a g e s , o f p h e -n o m e n o l o g y a s e x p l i c a t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e o f ca t e go r ie s o f p o s -s i bl e o b j e c t s . H e sa w t h a t , w i t h o u t su f f i c i e n t c a re , e i d e t i c a n a l ys i sd o e s s k e w t h e in v e s t ig a t io n t o w a r d t h e o b j e c t i v e c o m p o n e n t , t h en o e m a o r s e n s e i n t e n d e d , a n d a w a y f r o m t h e n o e t i c s id e o f t h e in -t e n t i o n a l c o m p l e x ( i. e., t o w a r d t h e " e i d e t i c " a n d a w a y f r o m th e" t r a n s c e n d e n t a l " ) . T h e re a l o b j e c t o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l s t u d y ,l iv e d e x p e r i e n c e , b e c o m e s i m p o v e r i sh e d i n t h e a n a l y t i c a l p ro c e s s .S o H u s s e r l t u r n e d t o a m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d f o r m o f a n a ly s is b e t t e rs u i te d t o t h e r i ch n e s s a nd c o m p l e x i t y o f e x p er i e n c e . T h is t o o ka c c o u n t o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e i n t e n d in g c o n s c i o u s n e s s h a s a p e r s o n a la n d c u l t u r a l h i s t o r y , i s e m b e d d e d i n a n e t w o r k o f r e l a ti o n s , e tc .T h i s r e f e r e n c e t o c o n t e x t c a rr ie s o v e r t o a n a l y se s o f n o e m a t i cc o m p o n e n t s a s w e ll . T h e y t o o , i n p a rt a s a c o n s e q u e n c e o f t h es i t u a t e d n e s s o f i n t e n d i n g c o n sc i o u sn e s s , a re s i t u a t e d a n d t h i s- t he ch arac te r i s t i c o f be ing in ce r t a in r e l a t ions , e t c . - i s pa r t o fa n a d e q u a t e u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e m . G e n e t i c a n a l y s is g e t s a t t h e set h i ng s - i t g iv e s p r o p e r p l a c e t o c o n sc i o u sn e s s ' c o n t r i b u t i o n t ot h e d a t a a n d h e n c e t o t h e n a t u r e o f i ts o w n e x p e r i e n c e . T h e u n d e r -l y in g id e a o f g e n e ti c p h e n o m e n o l o g y , o n t h e s t r o ng e s t r e a di n g, i s


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15t h a t i t is o n l y i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e p r o c e s s t h a t g a ve ri se t o a ni d e a t h a t w e t r u l y u n d e r s t a n d t h e i d e a i ts e lf . T h i s i s o f c o u r sei m p o r t a n t l y a t o d d s w i t h w h a t r e a d e rs o f t h e Logical Investiga-tions m i g h t h a v e c o m e t o e x p e c t .

Given a ll t h is , we can ha rd ly be su rp r i sed th a t i t i s no w be-c o m i n g f a sh i o n a b l e t o v i e w H u sse r l a s a h e r m e n e u t i c i s t , 46 r a t h e rt h a n v i ew i n g h e r m e n e u t i c s a s a m o v e m e n t g r o w i ng o u t o f d is -s a t i s f a c t io n w i t h H u sse r t ' s " p h i l o so p h y a s a s t ri c t s c i e n c e . " ( N o rsh o u l d w e b e su r p r is e d b y t h e p e rv a s i ve c o n f l a t i o n i n n o n - p h i -l o so p h i c a l d i s c i p li n e s o f t h e t e r m s ' p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l ' a n d ' h e r-m e n e u t i c a l ' . )

H u sse r l c e r t a i n l y intended t h a t h is g e n et ic p h e n o m e n o l o g y b ec o n t i n u o u s w i t h h i s e a r l i e r w o r k , b u t m a n y c o m m e n t a t o r s h a v eseen i t a s a r ad ica l b reak . I t i s d i f f i cu l t , bu t essen t i a l , t o de te r -m i n e w h i c h v i e w is c o r r e c t . C e r t a i n l y H u sse r l w a s a w a r e f r o m t h ev e r y b e g i nn i n g o f t h e de facto h e r m e n e u t i c a l c h a r a c t e r o f o r d i n a r yc o n sc i o u sn e s s , 47 b u t i t i s q u e s t i o n a b l e t h a t h is g e n e t i c p h e n o m e -n o l o g y i m p o r t s a n y t h i n g w h i c h ha s t o d o w i t h t h a t d i m e n s i o n o fempirical c o n sc i o u sn e s s . 48 Bu t t h e r e is a n o d d p r o c e s s o f a c c r u a lo f m e a n i n g a t w o r k i n p h e n o m e n o l o g y . T h e r e i s a l w a y s , a s H u s s e rlsa id in the Investigations, " a r e g u l a r a sc e n t f r o m a l o w e r t o a h i g h -e r le v e l, a n d a w o r k i n g o f o n e se l f i n t o e v e r n e w l o gi c al a n d p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l i n si g h ts w h i c h n e v e r l e av e t h e p r e v i o u s l y a c h i e v e do n e s u n t o u c h e d . ' '~9 P h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t h i n k i n g i s n o t l in e a r - i ti s z i g z a g w i t h p r o g r e s s d e p e n d i n g u p o n p e r p e t u a l r e t u r n t o o r i g i n a lana lyses , s The se o r ig ina l ana lyse s a r e l ike ly to be t ink ere d wi th ,a f t e r d e e p e r i n s i g h t s a r e w o n .

Th e i ssue is w he th er the re i s an y sense , a sense c l ea r ly d i s t in -g u i sh a b l e f r o m t h e s e n se p r o p e r t o e m p i r i c a l c o n sc i o u sn e s s , i nw h i c h transcendental c o n sc i o u sn e s s m i g h t b e s a i d t o b e h e r m e -n e u t i c a l . T h i s i ssu e o f t h e v e r y i n t el l ig i b i li t y o f t h e l o c u t i o n s l i k e" t r a n sc e n d e n t a l h e r m e n e u t i c s " a n d " h e r m e n e u t i c a l t ra n s c e nd e n -t al c o n s c i o u s n e s s " h a s n o t b e e n a d e q u a t e l y i nv e s ti g a te d , ev e nt h o u g h t h e p r o b l e m is c l o se l y r e l at e d t o t h e m u c h w o r k e d p r o b -l e m o f t r a n s c e n d e n t a l p s y c h o l o g i s m . I f i t s h o u ld p r o v e i n t h e e n dt h a t s t a ti c a n d g e n e ti c p h e n o m e n o l o g y a re d i s c o n t i n u o u s ( t h a t" h e r m e n e u t i c a l p h e n o m e n o l o g y " is a c o n t r a d i c ti o n in t e rm s ) ,t h e n w e m a y a g ai n b e f o r c e d t o t a k e s e r i o u s ly t h e p o s s i b i l it y t h a tt h e r e a re r a d ic a l ly d i f fe r e n t k i n d s o f " p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l " p r o p o s i -


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16t i o n s w h i c h r e q u i r e r a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t t r u t h t h e o r i e s . I n su m , u n -l es s w e c a n sh o w i n a w a y t h a t d o e s n o t c o m p r o m i se H u sse r l ia np h e n o m e n o l o g y t h a t e x p e r i e n c e i s a fu n c t i o n o f r e la t io n a l c a t e-g o r i e s , i . e . , u n l e s s w e c a n sh o w t h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l i n s i g h t i n t ot h e " h e r m e n e u t i c a l " n a t u r e o f all u n d e r s t a n d i n g is n o t it s e l f af o r m o f h e r m e n e u t i c a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g , H e i d e g g e r w i ll h a v e h a d t h elast laugh.

2. Preliminary steps toward determining the nature and truth con-d i t ions o f phen omenolog ica l propos i t ions

W i t h a n e y e o n t h e se d i s t in c t i o n s , l e t u s n o w c o n s i d e r m o r e c l o se lyt h e p r o b l e m o f d e te r m i n i n g t h e n a t u r e o f , a nd t h e t r u t h c o n d i -t i on s f o r , p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s .

T h e r e i s, w e k n o w , c o n s i d e r a b l e c o n f u s i o n i n t h e l i te r a t u r ea b o u t w h a t p r o p o s i t i o n s a r e g o o d i n s ta n c e s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a lp r o p o s i t i o n s , a n d e v e n m o r e a b o u t h o w t h e y a re to b e c h a r a ct e r-i ze d . I t is n o t e w o r t h y t h a t w h e n t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e n a t u r e o fp h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s is a d d r e ss e d , c o m m e n t a t o r s r a r e lya d d u c e i n s t a n c e s f r o m t h e w r i t in g s o f H u sse r l o r o t h e r re p r e se n t a -t iv e p h e n o m e n o l o g i s t s t o e x a m i n e f o r sp e c i fi c m a r k s . I n s t e a d t h e y ,f o r t h e m o s t p a r t, f i x u p o n t h e k i n d o f p r o p o s i t i o n s t o w h i c h p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s a r e s a i d t o b e l o n g , i . e . o n t h e f a c t t h a tt h e y a r e , o r a r e su p p o se d t o b e , sy n t h e t i c a p r i o r i s . The c lassiccase i s Mo r i t z Sch l i ck ' s in f lue n t i a l a r t ic l e , " I s There a Fac tua l ap r i o r i ? ' ' sl H e g iv es t w o q u i t e s t a n d a rd e x a m p l e s o f s y n t h e t i c ap r i o r i s - " E v e r y t o n e h a s i n t e n s it y a n d p i t c h " a n d " T h e s a m esu r f a c e c a n n o t b e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y r e d a n d g r e e n " - a n d o f f e r st h e m a s p a r a d i g m a t ic p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s . H e t h e nargues th a t t h ey a re in f ac t ana ly t i c , g iv ing a ll t he usua l a rgu me nt sa g a in s t K a n t ' s ( n o t H u sse r l ' s) i d e a o f sy n t h e t i c a p r i o r & . I f t hesea r e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s ( a n d t h e r e a re e x c e l l e n t r ea -so n s f o r s e e in g t h e m a s su c h , e sp e c i a l ly f r o m t h e p e r sp e c t i v e o fe i d e t i c p h e n o m e n o l o g y ) t h e r e a r e q u i t e u n d i s t i n g u i sh e d i ns t a n c es .O t h e r p r o b l e m s i n S c h l ic k ' s h a n d l in g o f t h e m a s id e , s2 t h e r e isso m e e v i d e n c e t h a t H u sse r l t o o w o u l d r e ga r d t h e m a s a n a l y t ic , s3F u r t h e r , a n d m u c h m o r e i n t e r e s t i n g l y , t h e r e is so m e r e a so n t os u p p o s e , g i ve n a n a p p r o p r i a t e c o n s t r u a l o f " a n a l y t i c , " t h a t s o m e


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17a n a l y t i c p r o p o s i t i o n s a r e l e g i t i m a t e l y p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l . W h ya f t e r a ll, sh o u l d f o r m a l c a t e g o r y c o n c e p t s b e p r o o f a g a in s t p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l a n a l ys i s ? H u sse r l sp e n d a l o t o f t i m e p ro v i n g t h ec o n t r a r y . W h a t i s t o p r e v e n t a p r o p o s i t i o n p r e se n t i n g t h e r e su l t o fsu c h a n a n a l y s is f r o m b e i n g a n a l y t i c i n t e r m s o f t h e " o r d i n a r y "a n d e i d e ti c p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l s e ns e s o f " a n a l y t i c , " w h i l e n o n e -t h e l e s s b e i n g sy n t h e t i c a pr ior i a s se e n f r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t o f at r a n s c e n d e n t a l p h e n o m e n o l o g y c e n t r e d o n c o n s t i t u t in g c o n sc i o u s -n e s s? S u r e l y t h e r e i s a g r e a t d e a l h e r e y e t t o b e so r t e d o u t .

Mo r e g e n ia l c r it i cs t h a n S c h l i ck h a v e d i sm i s se d p h e n o m e n o l o g ya s a s c i e n c e m a d e u p o f sy n t h e t i c a pr ior i p r o p o s i t i o n s , w i t h o u tt r o u b l i n g t o i n sp e c t r e p r e se n t a t i v e c a se s. L e sz e k K o t ' a k o w sk i, f o re x a m p l e , a s s u m e s a s t a n d a rd d e f i n i ti o n o f " a n a l y t i c " w h i c h m a k e sp r o p o s i ti o n a l t r u t h d e p e n d e n t u p o n a c c e p t e d w o r d m e a ni ng s a n dr i g h tl y d e n i e s , g i v en t h a t n o t i o n o f a n a l y t i c , t h a t p h e n o m e n o l o g i -c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s a r e a n a l y t i c . T h e e i d e i o r u n i ve r sa ls t h a t i n t e r e s t e dH u s s e rl w e r e n o t t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l s e ns e s o f w o r d s b u t w e r e t h en e c e s s a r y s t r u c t u re s o f p o s s ib l e o b j e c ts . P h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o -s i t io n s i n w h i c h t h e se s t r u c t u r e s a r e g i ve n a re t h e n - r a t h e r t h e yw o u l d b e (K o ~ a k o w sk i d e n i e s t h a t t h e r e a r e a n y ) - sy n t h e t i c apr ior i . K o ~ a k o w sk i i s v e r y s e n s i t i v e t o t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e ne i d e ti c an d p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p h e n o m e n o l o g y a n d s ee s n e i t h e r a sc a p a b l e o f g e n e r a t i n g s y n t h e t i c a pr ior i s . T h e e i d e t i c r e d u c t i o nf ails f o r " h e r m e n e u t i c a l " s o r ts o f r e a s o ns - t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i s tis h e l d t o b e i n c a p a b l e o f su f f i c i e n t l y su r m o u n t i n g t h e l im i t s o fc o m m o n se n se , o f a sp e c i f i c l i n g u i s t i c a n d c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e , e t c .T h e t r a n s c e n d e n t a l r e d u c t i o n d o e s n o t w o r k b e c a u s e i t i ss u es i na f u n c t io n a l m o n i s m - t a k in g u s b e y o n d l an g ua g e a n d o t h e rp e r so n s . T h e r e i s n o t h i n g t h e r e , n o r is a n y t h i n g n e e d e d , t o m e d i a t et h e u n m e d i a t e d r e l a ti o n b e t w e e n c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d o b j e c t , a r el a-t i o n t h a t is t r a n sc e n d e n t a l c o n sc i o u sn e s s , s4 S o e i d e t i c e n q u i r yi s su e s , p r e su m a b l y , i n sy n t h e t i c a p o s t e r i o r i s w h e r e a s t r a n s c e n d e n -t a l enqu i ry i s sues in s i l ence .

P h e n o m e n o l o g y m a y b e f u ti le , a s K o ~ a k o w s k i s u gg e st s, o r i tm ay be t r iv i a l, a s Sch l i ck sugges t s . Th en aga in i t m ay be a t onceb o t h t ri v ia l a n d e n o r m o u s l y i n s t r u c t i v e , as H u sse r l t o o k i t t o be. ssW e w i ll n o t d i s c o v e r w h i c h p o s i t i o n is c o r r e c t i f w e b e g i n b y r e -h e a r s i n g t h e o l d d e b a t e a b o u t s y n t h e t i c p r i o r i s a n d a c c e p t o r r e j e c tH u sse r l ' s w o r k i n t e r m s o f t h e s t a n d w e t a k e . W e w i ll g e t f a r th e r


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18(indeed m uch farther than we intend to go here) if we begin byidentifying propositions which Husserl meant to be characterizedas " phen omen olog ical " to see wha t, if anything, is special aboutthem . s6 Then we can worry a bou t ho w to describe them.

2.1 Toward identifying instances o f phenomenological proposi-tions

We shall not undertake that crucial exercize here, having limitedourselves to the non-strenuous task of pointing to the problemsrather than solving them. But we need a few examples nonethelessin order to pinpoint one of the major difficulties surrounding de-termination of the nature and truth criteria of phenomenologicalpropositions. The following are culled at random from Husserl'sopera. Each of them is a candidate, more or less worthy, of beingconsidered a phenomen ological proposition. Some of them couldbear improve ment - in terms of style, clarification of const ituentterms (which likely occurs elsewhere in the text), incompleteness,repletedness, etc.

1. Pure logic, wherever it deals with concepts, judgements, andsyllogisms, is exclusively concerned with the ideal unitiestha t we here call 'meanings'. s7

2. "In itself every mental process is a flux of becoming; it iswhat it is in a generation originaliter of an invariant essen-tial type; it is a continuous flow of retentions and proten-tions mediated by a flowing phase of originality itself inwhich there is consciousness of the living now of the men talprocess in contradistin ction to its 'before' and 'after'. 'ss

3 ... . each everyday experience involves an analogizing transferof an originally instituted objective sense to a new case, withits anticipated apprehension of the object as having a similarsense", s9

4. "'N on- con tra dic tio n' , taken in the broadest sense, which in-cludes every case of analytic consistency, is a necessary andsufficient condition for this performability proper of a pos-sible ]udgment . ''6

5. "... the proper essence of the psychic itself includes the facttha t it has the character o f meaning objects, etc. 61


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19It is fairly safe to suggest that these are possible candida tes forbeing phenomenological propositions at least insofar as each clear-ly satisfies one desideratum however disparate they are in otherrespects - each points to one or more necessary condition s forbeing a thing of a specific kind. There are other propositions wemight have fixed u pon which also satisfy this condition but whichwe hesitated to include because their "ph eno men olo gic al" statusmight be comprom ised by the means used to arrive at them. 62Others we did not include because they are just too untidy. Tomake them into presentable candidates for being phenomenologi-cal propositions, we should have to string together a series ofpropositi ons (or refer to a paragraph, - a book , - or a the ory asa "pr opo sit ion") . 63 This is simply a fu nct ion of t he fact thatevery single int ent ional process is, as Husserl puts it,

a function in the all-embracing nexus of consciousness. Theeffect produced by a single intentional process, in particular itseffect as a giving of something-itself, its effect as evidence, istherefore not shut off singly. The single evidence, by its ownintentionality, can implicitly 'demand' further givings of theobject itself; it can 'refer one' to th em for a supple menta tionof its Objectivating effect. 64

This brings us to what is most striking to anyone who starts se-riously looking for a really good phenomenolog ical proposi tion todissect in order to understa nd its peculiar const itut ion - thereare not nearly as many as one might suppose. For one thing, Hus-serl either is doing a great deal more besides phenomenologicalinvestigation in his work or else more moves count as "phenome-nological" t han most of us are prepared to recognize. - He refineshis concepts by discerning their difference from concepts inscience; he uses standard forms of philosophical argument, oftenusing other philosopher's positions as the foil against which todevelop his own; he not infr equen tly offers deductive pro ofs ofpropositions he is defending, a procedure quite different fromanything attributed to the phenomenological method. But evenin cases where we are quite sure tha t uniqu e features of his meth -od are in play, it is hard to find many statements in which ex-pression is given to clear and complete propositions about a phe-


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2 0n o m e n o l o g i c a l d a t u m o r a n e i d e t i c o b j e c t . I n t h i s r e g a r d i t i s d i s -h e a r te n i n g b u t n o t i rr e le v a nt t o n o t e t h a t t h e c o n c e p t s t o w h i c hH u sse r l d e v o t e d t h e b u l k o f h is t i m e - p u r e l o g ic , p h e n o m e n o l o -g y , p u r e c o n sc i o u sn e s s , i n t e r su b j e c t i v i t y , e t c . - r e q u i r e d a t l e as to n e a n d so m e t i m e s s e v e r a l b o o k s t o e x p r e s s . T h e se c o n c e p t s a r ea r ti c u la t e d i n p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l t h e o ri e s , i n t h e s en s e o f t h e o r yp e c u l i a r t o H u sse r l , a s e n se h e sh a r p l y d i s t i n g u ish e d f r o m " t h e o r y "in r e l a t ion to sc ience . I t is a pecu l i a r " th ink ing over , a com ing toev iden t u nde r s t an d ing ',6 s and , a s Husser l con ce iv ed i t , t ha t can bea v e r y l o n g a n d c o m p l i c a t e d b u s i n e s s . A s i n g l e p r o p o s i t i o n d o i n gj u s t i c e t o t h e r e su lt s w o u l d , i n m o s t c a se s , h a v e t o b e o f h e r o i cp r o p o r t i o n s . I t m i g h t b e w e l l t h e n , i n g e n e r a l, t o t h i n k o f a p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n n o t s o m u c h i n t e r m s o f th e m o d e l o fa si ng le p r o p o s i t i o n g iv in g t h e n e c e s sa r y a n d su f f i c i e n t c o n d i t i o n so f so m e c la s s o f p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s , a s w e a r e w o n t t o d o , b u t r a t h e ra s o n e m e m b e r o f a s e t o f p r o p o s i t i o n s m a k i n g u p a t h e o r y . T h et h e o r y w i ll , i n p r i n c i p le , b e c o m p l e t e , b u t e a c h p r o p o s i t i o n w h i c hg o e s t o m a k e i t u p w i ll b e i n c o m p l e t e w h e n c o n s i d e r e d i n i so la -t i o n . S o m e t i m e s H u sse r l d o e s i n d i c a t e p r e c i s e l y w h a t w o u l d b e i n-v o l v e d in a f u l ly a d e q u a t e t h e o r y . T h e i d e a o f u n i t y , f o r i n s t a n c e ,i s b a se d o n t h e i d e a o f f o u n d i n g , w h i c h is b a se d o n t h e i d e a o f apure l aw, wh ich in tu rn i s based ...66 The idea o f kno win g , to t ak ea n o t h e r e x a m p l e , c l e ar l y is n o t t h e so r t o f t h i n g t h a t c a n b e c ap -t u r e d i n so m e e a s il y m a n a g e a b l e d e f i n i t i o n . I n s t e a d , i t w o u l d c o n -s is t o f su b o r d i n a t e s e ri es o f p r o p o s i t i o n s g iv in g t h e c o n t e n t o f

a n e v i d e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th i n k i n g a n d k n o w i n g a s su c h , i nt h e i r p u r e g e n e r i c e s se n c e , o f t h e sp e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d f o r m s t h a tt h e y e s se n t ia l l y h a v e , o f t h e i m m a n e n t s t r u c t u r e s t h a t t h e i ro b j e c t i v e r e l a t i o n s i n v o l v e , o f t h e m e a n i n g o f ' v a l id i t y ' , ' ju s ti fi -c a t i o n ' , 'm e d i a t e ' , a n d ' i m m e d i a t e s t r u c t u r e s , o f t h e p a r al le lspec i f i ca t ions o f such Ideas in r e l a t ion to va ry ing r eg ions o fp o ss i b l e o b j e c t s o f k n o w l e d g e , o f t h e c l ar if ie d s e n se a n d r o l eo f t h e f o r m a l a n d m a t e r i a l ' la w s o f t h o u g h t ' s e e n i n t h e i r apriori s t r u c t u r a l c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e k n o w i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s ,etc . 67

I t is n o t d i f f i c u lt t o i d e n t i f y so m e o f t h e m o r e o b v i o u s so u r c e s o fc o m p l e x i t y , a n d h e n c e o f t h e p o s si b le i n c o m p l e t e n e s s , o f p r o p o s i -


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21t i o n s a n d t h e o r i e s m e a n t a s d e sc r i p t i o n s o f p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s . F o ro n e t h in g , t h e r e i s i n a l m o s t e v e r y c a se m u l t i p l i c i t y o f m e a n i n g" i n " t h e o b j e c t , i. e. , m o r e t h a n o n e f e a t u r e f ig u re s in a n e s se n ti a ld e s c r i p ti o n t h a t a d e q u a t e l y c a p t u r e s i ts o b j e c t . F o r a n o t h e r ,p r o p o s i t i o n s d e s c ri b in g r e l a ti o n s b e t w e e n s t r u c tu r a l e l e m e n t s o fc a t e g o r i e s a r e n e c e s sa r il y c o m p l e x , a s a r e a lso p r o p o s i t i o n s d e -sc r ib i n g r e l a t io n s b e t w e e n c a t e g o ri e s . - Mo r e o v e r , e v e r y p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n p r e s u p p o s e s a g r ea t de a l m o r e t h a n i ts t a t e s - i .e ., t h e l a w s o f p u r e l o gi c w i t h t h e i r a x i o m s o f r e l a t i o n ,th e a priori l a w s o f m e a n i n g , e t c ., e t c . F i n a l l y , a si ng le p h e n o m e -n o n c a n b e e x p l i c a t e d i n te r m s o f w h o l l y d i f f e r e n t c ri te r ia . T h e r ec a n b e d i f f e r e n t e s se n ti a l d e sc r i p t i o n s o f t h e s a m e p o ss i b l e o b -jec t . 68

W e a r e n o t t r y i n g t o m a k e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l e n q u i r y s e e mh o p e l e s s b y p o i n t i n g u p t h e f a c t t h a t i d e a l ly i t is n e c e s sa r y t o u n -d e r s t a n d a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n w i t h in a n e t w o r k o fp r o p o s i t i o n s i n t i m a t e l y r e l a t e d t o i t a n d i n t e r m s o f a n o t h e r n e t -w o r k o f l o g i c a l , s e m a n t i c , a n d e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s t ow h i c h i t is m o r e d i s t a n t l y r e l a t e d a n d f u r t h e r b e y o n d t h e se , int e rm s o f p ro p o s i t io n s a p p r o p ri a t e t o t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f p h e n o m e -n o l o g y i ts e l f. I t i s m e r e l y t o i n si s t, f ir s t, t h a t w e r e m e m b e r t h a tH u sse r l , i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e i d e a o f p u r e l o g ic a s t h e o r y o f s c i e n c e ,a s s u m e d f o r h i m s e l f t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f L e ib n i z ' p r o j e c t o f m at he -sis universalis, a t a sk w h i c h f o r r a t io n a l i s t s o f t h i s o r d e r is m e r e l ypract ical ly i m p o ss i b l e . I t i s t h e o r e t i c a l l y f e a s ib l e o n e s t e p a t a t im eand , Husse r l a ssures us , t ak ing each o f thos e s t ep s is a ve ry d i f f i -c u lt b u t b y n o m e a n s i m p o s s i b le f e a t. B u t o n e w o u l d th i n k t h ec o m p l e t e s e ns e o f e a c h s t e p , o f e a c h a p o d i c t i c p r o p o s i t i o n w o n ,w o u l d b e a f u n c t i o n o f t h e w h o l e mathes i s of which i t i s an e l e -m e n t . T h is m a y s e e m a v e r y a b s tr a c t w o r r y a b o u t t h e p r o b l e m o ft h e c o m p l e t e n e s s o f a p r o p o s i t i o n , b u t i t su r e ly is i n so m e w a yc o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e f a c t t h a t H u sse r l g e n e r a l ly fe l t o b l i g e d t o c o n -t e n t h i m s e l f w i t h a d e q u a t e r a t h e r t h a n c o m p l e t e fu l f il l m e n t o fm e a n i n g i n t e n t i o n s . P h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s a re a p o d i c t i cn o t i n v i r t u e o f c a p t u r i n g e v e r y t h i n g t h a t i s t o b e d e sc r i b e d , b u ti n v i r t u e o f c a p t u r i n g e n o u g h o f i t to d o .

T h e r e i s a m u c h m o r e o b v i o u s s e n se t h a n t h e se s e n se s r e l at i ngt o p h i l o so p h i c a l s c i e n c e (rnathesis) a n d a d e q u a t e a s o p p o s e d t oc o m p l e t e m e a n i n g f u l fi l lm e n t in w h i c h m a n y p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l


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2 2p r o p o s i t i o n s a re i n c o m p l e t e . I t is g e n e r a l ly a gr e e d t h a t a t r u t hc o n d i t i o n o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s , in a d d i t i o n t o t h eo n e w e h a v e m e n t i o n e d ( i. e. , t h a t t h e y d e sc r i b e s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e so f p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s ) is t h a t t h e y b e a b o u t i n t e n t i o n a l a c ts . O u rl is t o f r a n d o m s a m p l e s o f c a n d i d a t e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i -t i o n s i n d i c a t e s t h a t b e i n g a b o u t i n t e n t i o n a l a c t s is o n e o f t h e l es so b v i o u s m a r k s o f b e i n g p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l , b u t a t t e n t i o n t o t h em o s t g e ne r al f r a m e w o r k w i t h i n w h i c h H u ss e rl c o n d u c t e d h isana lyses eas i ly sh ows tha t t h i s i s inde ed th e case . (A l tho ug h i ti s n o t a s t r a n sp a r e n t i n t h e c a se o f t h e L.I . as i t i s in the worksa f t e r i t . ) T h e " i d e a l " p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n w o u l d a r t i c u -l at e t h a t i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n o f n o e t i c a n d n o e m a t i c e l e m e n t s w h i c his a n i n t e n t i o n a l a c t. T h e r e su l t w o u l d , o n e w o u l d t h i n k , l o o km u c h m o r e l ik e a t h e o r y c o m p o s e d o f p r o p o s i t i o n s w h i c h ar e" p a r t s " i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e " w h o l e , " r a t h e r t h a n l ik e a p r o p o s i t i o nw h i c h is t h e w h o l e - t h e w h o l e a c c o u n t o f p e r c e p t i o n o r w h a t -e v e r i s b e i n g i n v e s t ig a t e d . S o m e o f t h e c o n s t i t u e n t p r o p o s i t i o n so f t h e t h e o r e t i c a l w h o l e w il l c l a r if y n o e t i c a sp e c t s , o t h e r s n o e m a t -i c a spec t s , o the r s s ti ll , a spec t s o f those aspec t s , s uch as o f wh a tp e r t a i n s t o t h e n o e m a t i c c o r e . T h i s e l e m e n t a r y s c e n a r i o ca n b ec o m p l e x i f i e d o f c o u r s e - i n a d d i t i o n t o p r o p o s i t i o n s a b o u t " p a r t s "o f in t e n t i o n a l a c t s a n d r e l a t io n s b e t w e e n p a r ts , w e m i g h t h a v ep r o p o s i t i o n s a b o u t r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n a c t s , a b o u t r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e nn o e se s , b e t w e e n n o e m a t a , e t c . , e t c . (T h e r e is a p a r a ll e l c o m p l e x i t yi f, i n s t e a d o f sp e a k i n g o f i n t e n t i o n a l a c t s , w e sp e a k m o r e g e n er a l-l y o f t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n c o n sc i o u sn e s s an d it s o b j e c t s . ) Bu t ina n y c as e e x c e p t t h e m o s t tr iv ia l, w h a t e v e r t h e p e r m u t a t i o n s t h ei n c o m p l e t e n e s s o f a n y p r o p o s i t i o n w h i c h f o r m s a p a r t o f a p h e -n o m e n o l o g i c a l t h e o r y ( o f t h e n a t u r e o f m e a n i n g, o f t i m e c o n -sc iousness . . . . ) r emains . Husser l h as a rgued tha t t h i s in p r inc ip lei n c o m p l e t e n e s s o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l a n al y si s d o e s n o t c o m p r o -m i se t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i s t ' s c l a i m t h a t t h e r e su l t s a r e a p o d i c t i c .I t is w o r t h n o t i n g t h o u g h t h a t a p o d i c t i c i t y e v e n t u a l l y b e c a m e f o rH u sse r l a s o p e n - e n d e d a s t h e o b j e c t i v i t i e s to w h i c h i t r e l a te s -t h e d i f f i c u l t n o t i o n o f " e v i d e n c e " d e v e l o p e d i n t h e I nves t i ga t i onsb e c o m e s m o r e f lu i d a n d h e n c e m o r e d i f f ic u l t t o u n d e r s t a n d i nth e F o r m a l a n d T r a n s c e n d e n t a l L o g i c p r e c i s e l y b e c a u se o f t h i s .I t b e c o m e s a se ri es o f " e x t r e m e l y c o m p l i c a t e d p e r f o r m a n c e s ,f i tt in g t o g e t h e r t o m a k e a s y n t h e t i c h a r m o n y a n d a lw a y s p o i n t in gahead to new ones . ''69


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232.2 Tow ard clarifying the issue o f the logical typ e category to

which phenomenologiea l propos i t ions be longBe f o r e t u rn i n g a g a in , ( a n d f i n a l ly ) t o t h e p r o b l e m o f t r u t h c o n d i -t i on s , l e t u s b r i e fl y n o t e s o m e o f w h a t is t o b e g l e an e d a b o u t h o wt o d e s c r i b e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s , o n c e w e h a v e r e c og -n i ze d t h a t m o s t o f t h e m a re i n s o m e w a y o r a n o t h e r i n c o m p l e t ei n re l a ti o n t o t h e p r o x i m a t e a n d u l t i m a t e g oa ls o f p h e n o m e n o l o g y

- t h a t i s, in r e l a t i o n t o t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e o r i e s o f p o s s i b l ei n t e n t i o n a l f o r m s a n d o f p o s s i b le i n t e n t i o n a l o b j e c t s , a n d , in t h ee n d , i n r e l a ti o n t o a t h e o r y o f t h e n a t u r e o f t h e o r e t ic a l c o n s c i o u s -n e s s a n d o f t h e p r e - t h e o r e t i c a l l if e w h i c h i t a r t ic u l a t e s . I t w o u l ds e e m t h a t , d e p e n d i n g u p o n p r e c is e l y w h a t w e m e a n b y " a n a l y t i c "a n d " s y n t h e t i c a priori ," a s p e c i f i c p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o nm i g h t b e bo t h , b u t o f c o u rs e n o t i n r e s p e c t t o t h e s a m e f e a t u re s ,o r w i t h i n t h e s a m e f r a m e w o r k ( i. e. , e i d e t i c / s t a t i c , t r a n sc e n d e n t a l /g e n e t ic p h e n o m e n o l o g y ) . F o r e x a m p l e , i n te r m s o f o n e s e ns e o f" a n a l y t i c " ( h a vi n g t o d o w i t h p u r e l y f o r m a l p r i n c i p le s ) a n e i d e t i cd e sc r i p t i o n o f a p r in c i p l e o f p u r e l o gi c i s m a n i f e s t l y a n a n a l y t i cp r o p o s i t i o n . Bu t w h e n w e p l a c e H u sse r l ' s p u r e lo g i c w h e r e it b e -longs - in the se rv ice o f hi s ep i s t em olog ica l in t e r es t s , e spec ia l lyw h e n w e c o n s i d e r i t as b e in g a n o p e r a t i v e p ri n c i p l e o f t r a n sc e n -d e n t a l c o n sc i o u sn e s s , t h e e m p t i n e s s o f t h e p r i n c i p le is n o lo n g e rso o b v i o u s . E v e n t h e g iv e n n e s s o f th e p r i n c i p l e o f n o n - c o n t r a d i c -t i o n is li k e e v e r y t h i n g e ls e " a f u n c t i o n i n t h e a ll e m b r a c i n g n e x u so f c o n s c i o u s n e s s . " S o v ie w e d , i t s h a d es t o w a r d t h e s y n t h e t i c apriori.

T o t a k e a n o t h e r e x a m p l e o f t h e p o s s i bl e d u a l c h a r a c t e r o fp h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s , a p r o p o s i t i o n d e s c ri b in g a n o e -m a t i c s t r u c t u r e o r th e s t r u c t u r e o f a c la s s o f p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s m i g h tw e l l b e t a k e n a s " a n a l y t i c " i n t h e s e n se t h a t i t g iv e s t h e m e a n i n g so f t e rm s o r in d i c at e s h o w p e o p l e c u s t o m a r i l y u s e la n gu a ge . H o w -e v e r a p r o p o s i t i o n o f t h is n a t u r e q u i c k l y s h a d e s t o w a r d t h e s y n -t h e t i c a priori w h e n i t is u n d e r s t o o d t h a t i t i s a d e sc r i p t i o n o f a nintent ional o b j e c t , o r o f a p o s s i b l e o b j e c t o f t r a n s c e n d e n t a l e x p e -r i en c e . ( I .e . , t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s o f w h i c h S c h l i c km a k e s sp o r t a r e n o t a b o u t t o n e s o r su r f a c e s a t a l l . ) T h i s su g g e s t st h a t w e m i g h t m a k e m o r e p r o g re s s t o w a r d a g r e e m e n t o n t h ep r o p e r d e s c r i p t i o n o f p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l p r o p o s i t i o n s w e r e w e t o


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24note whether, and in what respects, they are incomplete. There isan interesting possibility (to which we shall return) that we Hus-serl scholars cannot do that, cannot escape therefore our ownconfusion (supposing it is not Husserl's) about these issues justbecause we examine, rather than practice, phenomenology.

2.3 Tow ard c lar i fy ing the issue o f phenornenologica l t ru th cr i te -ria

Let us turn, finally, to the correlate q uestion to this one aboutthe nature and proper classification of phenome nologica l proposi-tions, that is, to the question about the nature and number ofphenomenological trut h conditions.

The central disagreement here is between those who think ofthe tru th of a phenome nologica l propositio n in terms of a singlecriterion - "evi denc e" or one of its surrogates - and those whorecognize several criteria. This latter group is factionalized intothose who do 70 and those who do n ot 71 see the set as complete .

The advocates of the first position are largely responsible forphenomenology being in bad odour among analytic philosophers.This is because some o f the m (particularly analyti c critics of phe-nomenology like Schlick and Ryle) had disarmingly simple viewsof the nature of pheno menolo gical intui tion, evidential insight,etc.

The model, which may be well or ill developed, for an accountof phenomenological truth as a special kind of seeing or evidencecan be sketched in terms of Husserl's description (in oppositionto psychologism) of the unmediated process whereby the truthof, e.g.~ the law of no n-con tr adi cti on is recognized. Husserl doessay that "insight (evidence or int uit ion) ... the regress to wha t isultimate in cognition signifies ... the same thing when the wordinsight is used in the most primitive logical and arithmeticalaxioms.'72 An alternative way of conceiving of phenomenologicalevidence is on the model of seeing a physical object~ This in thehands of a positivist, becomes perceptual experience of a raw sensedatum.73

There is of course good ground for these models. There areindeed propositi ons a bout which it makes sense to speak of un-


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25m e d i a t e d v a l i d a t io n . Mo r e o v e r , i t m a k e s a g o o d d e a l o f s e n se t od i scu s s t h e f in a l s t e p in t h e v a r i o u s p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l a n a l y t i c sa s a n i m m e d i a t e g r asp o f t h e d a t a i n it s t r u t h . I t is a k i n t o re c o g -n i z in g t h e c o r r e c t n e s s o f a n i n f e r e n c e o r p r o o f - i .e ., s ee i ng t h ec o n c l u s i o n a s r ig h t i n sp le n d i d i so l a t i o n f r o m t h e p r o p o s i t i o n sw h i c h s u b t e n d e d it. T h is f it s w e l l w i t h t h e i d e a t h a t p h e n o m e -n o l o g i c a l v a l i d a t i o n is a p e r f o r m a n c e - a n a c h i e v e m e n t b r o u g h ta b o u t b y t h e d i sc i pl in e d a p p l i c a t io n o f a v e r y t e c h n i c a l p r o c e -d u r e , r a t h e r t h a n s o m e c h e a p , p a in l es s a n d u n c o n t e s t a b l y a c c u r a t eg l a n ce a t t r a n s - e m p i r i c a l r e al it ie s . H u sse r l a f t e r all w a n t s s o m e h o wt o " w a r r a n t " k n o w l e d g e a n d i n t u it i o n a lo n e d o e s n o t " w a r r a n t "a n y t h i n g . - H e i s u n e q u i v o c a l a b o u t th i s :

F o r t o i n t u i t is p l a in l y n o t t o t h i n k . T h e p e r f e c t i o n o f t h o u g h tl ies do ub t l es s in in tu i t ive , i. e ., i n ' au t hen t i c ' t h ink ing , in tha tk n o w l e d g e i n w h i c h o u r t h o u g h t - i n t e n t i o n is ' s a t is f i e d ' ( as i tw e r e ) b y p a s s in g o v e r i n t o i n t u i t i o n . E v e n t h e b r i e f d i s c u s s i o n s[ in I n v e s t i g a t i o n I I, ch . II I ] p e r m i t u s , h o w e v e r , t o sp e a k o f ag r av e m i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f th i s f a c t , w h e n i n t u i t i o n - u n d e r -s t o o d i n t h e u su a l s e n se o f a c ts o f e x t e r n a l o r i n te r n a l s e n se -is re g a r d e d a s t h e p r o p e r i n t e l le c t u a l f u n c t i o n , a n d w h e n t h et r u e r o le o f c o n c e p t u a l t h o u g h t is t a k e n t o b e i ts u s e o f i n d i re c td e v ic e s w h i c h e c o n o m i z e i n t u i t i o n , a n d o v e r c o m e t h e a ll t o on a r r o w l i m it s o f t h e l a t te r . C e r t a i n l y w e a xe a c c u s t o m e d t ous ing ou r a l l- seeing min d as a log ica l idea l , bu t on l y bec aus e wequ ie t ly add to i t s a l l- see ing capac i t i e s , cap ac i t i e s fo r kn ow ingand th ink ing a l l .

I n s u m : " N o t m e r e i n t u i t io n , b u t a d e q u a t e , c a t e g or i ca l ly f o r m e di n tu i ti o n s , c o m p l e t e l y a c c o m m o d a t e d t o t h o u g h t , o r c o n v e rs e ly ,t h o u g h t w h i c h d r a w s i t s e v i d e n c e f r o m i n t u it i o n , c o n s t i t u t e s t h eg o a l o f t r u e k n o w l e d g e . ''74

T h i s a n d h is s t r o n g p r o t e s t s 7s n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , H u sse r l is n o te n t ir e l y b l a m e l e s s f o r t h e c o m m o n m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f p h e n o m e -n o l o g i c a l v a l i d a t io n a s so m e so r t o f s i m p l e o r s i m p l e - m i n d e d m y s -t i c s e ei n g. A l t h o u g h h is d i s c u s s i o n s o f e v i d e n c e , a p o d i c t i c i t y , in -s i gh t , e tc . i n t i m a t e a n y t h i n g b u t f a c i le a p p e a l s t o t h e o b v i o u s ,t h e y n o n e t h e l e s s l e av e u s u n e a s y . (D a v i d L e v i n h a s g i ve n s t r o n g e s tvo ice to these misg iv ings. 76 ) Al th ou gh Huss er l i s c l ea r ly aware o f


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26various possible senses of evidence, he does not explicate their in-terrela tions as well as he migh t nor does he always make clearwhich sense he is using in a specific con tex t. 77 Even in the Pro-legomena to the Investigations where he is vigorously having atpsychologistic logicians, he occasionally waffles about whereevidence or apodi ctic ity lies - in the propo sition, the objectmeant, or in the mind of the beholder of the proposition. E.g.,one thinks one is clear on the distinction between (merely)asser-toric and apodictic inner evidence, 7~ the for mer having to dowith the "existence of a single experience" and the latter with"a universal la w which transcends persons and times," but thedistinction blurs within a few pages when locutions that smackof incipient psychologism, transcendental or plain, start croppingup. - Locut ions like "sel f -evident universally valid convict ions '79and "apodic tic indubitab ility 's which seem to c onflate theassertoric/apodictic distinction.

The tension tha t generates our uneasiness here is betwee n claimsabout meanings as autonomous (propositions as true in them-selves) and about evidence as a function of meaning intentions.The proposition, "~r is a transcendental number" is true, Husserlsays, "whether I think and exist or not, and whether or not thereare any thinki ng persons and acts. ''81 But tha t is wor th sayingonly because we can and do know it, and hence know that itunderwrites the validity of all our thin king:

it is ... inwardly evident that truths are what they are .. whetherwe have insight into them or not. Since they do not hold in sofar as we have insight into them, but we can have insight intothem in so far as they hold, they must be regarded as objectiveor ideal conditions of the possibility of our knowledge ofthem. 82

That inward evidence is had only if certain psychological and idealconditions for evident jud gme nt are met. s3 The problem seems tobe that Husserl wants both to blur and to maintain the distinctionbetween the objectivity of meanings (and propositions) and theobjectivity of meaning intentions (and judgments). This fits inwith the fact that even the Investigations which is acribed to aperiod before Husserl's "tra nsce ndent al tur n" is a work of tran-


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27sc e n d e n t a l p h i l o s o p h y . I n i t H u sse r l is t r y i n g t o e x p l i c a t e t h ei so m o r p h i s m o f t h e l o g ic a l ( sp e ci e s ), e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l ( s e l f - e v id e n tj u d g m e n t s ) a n d t h e r e a l ( i n s ta n c e ) . s4 S o a l t h o u g h h e s e e m s f o r t h em o s t p a r t t o w a n t e v i d e n c e a n d a p o d i c t i c i t y to b e e p i s t em o l o g i c a lc o n c e p t s - i n s h a rp c o n t r a d i s t i n c t i o n t o p s y c h o l o g i c a l c o n c e p t s ,h e a l so w a n t s t o b u i l d i n t o t h e m o n t o l o g i c a l i m p o r t : t r u e p r o p o s i -t i o n s p r e se n t g e n u i n e l y p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s a n d s t a t e s o f a f fa i rs .T h e se p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s a n d s t a t e s o f a f f ai r s h a v e a p e c u l ia r r e a l i t yo f t h e i r o w n w h i c h d i s t i n g u i s h e s t h e m f r o m i m p o s s i b l e o b j e c t s .T h e se i d e a s a r e o f c o u r se c a sh e d o u t i n H u sse r l 's v e r y c o n se r v a -t ive b rand o f idea l ism. 8s Were Hu sser l t o have ke p t ev idence ,a p o d i c t i c i t y , e tc . as " p u r e l y " e p i s t e m o l o g ic a l c o n c e p t s ( s u p -p o s i n g i t i s p o s s i b l e t o d o t h a t ) , h e w o u l d h a v e h a d c o n s i d e r a b l ed i f f i c u l t y a v o i d i n g ( t r a n sc e n d e n t a l ) p sy c h o l o g i sm . I n t h a t c a set h e t r u t h o f p r o p o s i t i o n s w o u l d b e , on e w o u l d t h i n k ( a n d c o n t r a r yt o H u sse r l ' s a s se r t i o n t o t h e c o n t r a r y ) a f u n c t i o n so l e ly o f t h ep o ss i b i l i t y o f t h e r e b e i n g a c o n sc i o u sn e s s t o r e c o g n i z e i t .

A t t h e r o o t o f t h e se m isg iv i ng s is a n i m p r e s s i o n t h a t H u sse r lw a s s e a r c h in g f o r so m e im p o ss i b l e tertiurn quid b e t w e e n p s y c h o -log ica l and log ica l necess i ty . 86 One und er s t an ds wel l eno ug h h isr e f u sa l to m a k e p sy c h o l o g i c a l n e c e

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